European security depends on Ukraine’s security, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Wednesday during a visit to the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, warning that Russia would face serious consequences if it invaded the country. reports EFE and AFP.
“Europe’s security is not possible without Ukraine’s security,” Borrell told a news conference a few kilometers away from the line between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatist militias, which have been facing each other since 2014.
At the same time, Josep Borrell assured Ukraine of the EU’s “full support” in the face of the threat of Russian aggression. “We are here first and foremost to reaffirm the European Union’s full support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said at a news conference in Donbas, where he was accompanied by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba.
“Any military aggression against Ukraine will have disastrous consequences and a significant cost,” Borrell added, speaking in the village of Stanita Luganska, near the front line, according to Agerpres.ro.
The Russian-Ukrainian border conflict “is about to worsen and tensions are mounting,” the EU official warned. Ukraine’s border is about to deepen. ‘
“Russia has concentrated troops and equipment in a very unusual way. All this has happened very quickly, ‘said the head of European diplomacy, noting that the EU is currently coordinating its efforts with the US and NATO, as well as other allies to ease the situation.
“Our main concern is to reduce tensions through negotiations and our strong supportive position for Ukraine. Any military aggression against Ukraine will have serious consequences, “he warned.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba also stressed that Borrell’s visit to Donbas is a historic one, given that he is the first EU foreign minister to visit the conflict zone between Ukraine and Russia after the outbreak nearly eight years ago. of the war, which left about 13,000 dead, according to the UN.
The EU and Ukraine have a common goal in this crisis, which is to achieve “diplomatic easing so that Moscow can reduce tensions and abandon its aggressive intentions,” Dmitro Kuleba said.
While Russia wants to link the Ukrainian crisis to NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe in negotiations with Washington, the Brussels representative stressed that “any discussion on European security must involve the EU and Ukraine,” notes AFP.
At the same time, the North Atlantic Alliance announced on Wednesday that the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting will take place on Monday, two days before the Alliance addresses the military tension on the Russian-Ukrainian border with Moscow in the NATO-Russia Council on January 12.
